Born this Way: Gender as Defined by Culture

6:00:00 AMCatherine Beigel

What if I told you that what is feminine and what is masculine is completely made up by your culture?

If you’re a cradle Catholic reading this you might write me off as a heretic. I used to believe that I was born with feminine qualities as well. But, this belief in a feminine or masculine identity and using those qualities to define our male and female sex is exactly what is destroying our culture. Do you not feel like a woman? Well being a woman isn’t about feelings. You are a woman because you were born that way. Femininity or masculinity, on the other hand, is up to you, to us, to define.

Let me clarify something before we continue. When I speak of femininity and masculinity I refer to gender. When I refer to male and female I refer to sex. The two are not same. Gender is different than sex. Sex is a biological term. On the level of chromosomes, if you have Y Chromosome you are male. If not you are female. Gender on the other hand is the way we speak about qualities of the sexes.

What are these feminine and masculine qualities? As a passing point, Alice von Hildebrand says in The Privilege of Being a Woman, “It is our (feminine) heart which is vulnerable and, therefore, makes us realize our weakness, which is distasteful to masculine pride.” (2)

The heart, and emotions, she seems to assign as feminine. Pride on the other hand is attributed as masculine. With the first, you might be nodding your heads. Men don’t have feelings. With the second, I can tell you right now as a woman that I have a whole lot of pride. There is nothing exclusive to the male sex about pride. The same I believe applies to the heart. The heart is not only present in women. Men too have affective responses. It is our cultural interpretation of these human qualities that has isolated them within a particular sex.

I do not believe that von Hildebrand was suggesting that women are those only capable of feeling. Rather, I think she was highlighting one of our greatest natural strengths. There is a truth behind our cultural assignment of feelings with women. Not because it is specific to our sex, but I would argue because it comes more naturally to women in general.

As a human person I am an embodied knower. As a person, I experience the world through my body and its’ five senses. My sex is made manifest through my body. When I was born the nurses and doctors were able to say “It’s a girl!” because of my body. I depend on my female body to know the world. Because I was begotten as a woman, I am a woman. My soul became incarnate in and through my body. They together make me, me.

I know that my body is different from a man.

I know that I have experienced “masculine” traits. Pride for one. Rationality for another (Thanks, Aristotle).

My female body tells me that physically I am receptive and nutritive. Through the union of man and woman I am able to generate new life. This doesn’t discredit my rational capacity. However, a man will never be able become pregnant or know what that is like. Sometimes we look at this capacity as a source of pride and other times we try to hide it. With it, we try to hide the feminine qualities that naturally flow from it. I say naturally because it is a quality we are born with by the virtue of our bodies. We can choose to flex that muscle or not. As a child we are given toys that reflect our sex. A young girl is given baby dolls and plays house with her friends. A boy on the other hand is given a toy tool set and is put outside to conquer the world with swords. These are encourage our culturally define representation of sex, gender. My sister hated playing with dolls. I hated playing with dolls. They were stuffed pieces of fabric and didn’t do too much. I would much rather have been outside building a fort.

This does not diminish the fact that I have a woman's body that comes with the ability to receive and nurture. These traits come more naturally to me as a woman because my body reveals them to myself and informs my soul. In choosing to hide them, I think that we choose to hide our greatest strength and our greatest gift to the world.

It’s true: I am a woman with a strange mix of masculine and feminine qualities. You will never find a woman quite like me. There will never be a woman quite like you. We are each our own strange concoction of what our culture is attempting to classify as masculine and feminine. You are no less a woman because you enjoy playing sports. You are no less a woman if you don’t like ballet.

The human race is built of males and females. Together we are fruitful. Together we are complete.

Embrace your uniqueness. Don’t attempt to hide “feminine” or “masculine” qualities. There is no war between the two; they complement one another. Your sex is not determined by your gender. Stand strong when the culture tells you were born into the wrong body. Don’t listen if the world tries to tell you that you are not a woman because you don’t meet some culturally given set of “feminine qualities.” Your qualities of gender do not define whether you are a woman or not. You are a woman because you are you.

I'm a senior Theology and Philosophy major hailing from small-town Steubenville, Ohio. I'm addicted to coffee, and will drink it in the morning watching the sunrise and late at night pouring over a book. I aspire to stand-up comedy, and hope others enjoy my jokes as much as I do.

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Take it from someone who grew up as a rebel in the 1970's. With each generation comes the epiphany that they can think outside of what they have been taught of reality. Reality, the norm is challenged and explored. But this generation takes the cake. I'll qualify my response with an observation. In terms of young people, more time and energy, brain power, passion, emotion and life-changing decisions have been made because of gender identity than anything I know of. Whereas young adults of past generations spent their time, energy, dreams, plans, etc. on developing themselves into a positive contributor to society, this generation has drawn themselves inward. The focus is off of what I can do to contribute, to make a living, to support my surroundings so I don't become a burden on society. The focus is on what or who I feel I am today. You stated that this belief in a feminine or masculine identity and using those qualities to define our male and female sex is exactly what is destroying our culture. This is an incredibly naive statement. Naive meaning showing a lack of experience, wisdom or judgement. Could you please explain what you mean as our culture how that is destroying it? I don't understand how we as women in terms of the ability to become pregnant try and hide the feminine qualities that naturally flow from it. You are a woman with masculine and feminine qualities. Who isn't? Contrary to your observation, your sex IS determined by gender. Those who support identifying your vascillating gender choices in the 21 century haven't stumbled upon some lost treasure the world is waiting for to save us with. You've discovered that males and females share some of the same traits. Not to be mean, but congratulations. There is nothing new under the sun. We are women because we have reproductive systems, hormones and chromosomes that identify is as women. The almost-adults and those easing into society, who would otherwise be functioning citizens trying to become the best they can be and be an asset to society are reduced to questioning who and what they are at any given moment. As an adult, I have to work to pay for my family and for those who can't work. If it weren't for working people who produce something, people starve, people go without health care. Look down the road ten or fifteen years at the now kindergarteners who will spend much of their time focusing on their and others' identity instead of improving themselves. Naivete says it won't happen. Experience says you can't begin to address Maslow's hierarchy of need when everyone becomes focused on who or what they are on any given day. That level of self absorption doesn't allow for it.We have too many thinkers and not enough doers. THAT is one element which is destroying our society.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read and engage in my post. This is definitely a topic I struggle with and I know many others of my college and young adult peers do as well. I think that we agree on several points and some resolution could be come to by perhaps clarification of the terms sex and gender. The distinction between the two terms is almost irrelevant in daily language. Sex is an objective reality which we are born into and gender in this post refers to the subjective reality which people have mistakenly applied to what is objective. If indeed there is a movement of the current generation toward inward thinking as you state, then our arguements agree with each other. The purpose of my post is to encourage those who struggle with defining themselves by a non-objective standard. In regards to your specific question, "Could you please explain what you mean as our culture how that is destroying it?" I would be happy to clarify. My point was simply that the current generation has the temptation to deny the reality of their sex. In denying the most fundamental reality of their sex they undermine other truths as well. If we can reground in what is most evident then we can move forward, positively to society and pursuing what is good, true, and beautiful. I know it may seem as if issues such as this are self evident, and I believe they should be, however, that isn't the perfect reality that today's young adults are growing up in. I believe it is important to dialogue as we seek better articulation of what is known. Thank you so much for your work ethic and how you have labored to provide for others. Selflessness such as that is something that should be fostered and is a virtue we should all seek to possess. But also should be fostered in our young is the ability to live as a whole human person, one with a heart, will, and intellect.